KTVH

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KTVH / KBGF-LP / KBBJ / KBAO
KTVH: Helena, Montana KBGF-LP: Great Falls, Montana KBBJ: Havre, Montana KBAO: Lewistown, Montana
Branding	Beartooth NBC
Channels	12 (Helena) 50 / Cable 6 (Great Falls) 9 (Havre) 13 (Lewistown) analog, 14 (Helena only) digital
Affiliations	NBC
Owner	Sunbelt Communications Company (Beartooth Communications Company)
Founded	KTVH: January 1, 1958 KBGF-LP: November 16, 2004 KBBJ: December 8, 1997 KBAO: December 12, 1997
Call letters meaning	K TeleVision Helena K Beartooth Great Falls K Beartooth BJ K Beartooth AO
Former callsigns	KTVH: KTVG, KTCM, KBLL-TV, KXLJ KBGF-LP: K50IQ
Transmitter Power	KTVH: 180 kW (analog) 21.5 kW (digital) KBGF-LP: 50 kW KBBJ: 9 kW KBAO: 9 kW
Height	KTVH: 711 m (analog) 697 m (digital) KBGF-LP: 195 m KBBJ: 389 m KBAO: 636 m
Website	www.ktvh.com

KTVH is a full-service television station serving Helena, Montana and the surrounding area as an NBC affiliate, broadcasting on analog channel 12 and digital channel 14. The station is owned by Beartooth Communications Company, a subsidiary of Sunbelt Communications Company of Las Vegas, Nevada. It is the flagship station for the marketing brand Beartooth NBC, and simulcasts from its Helena facilities on the following stations:

Call sign	Analog Channel	Digital Channel	Location
KTVH	12	14	Helena MT
KBGF-LP	50		Great Falls MT
KBBJ	9	1	Havre MT
KBAO	13	1	Lewistown MT

^{1: Separate digital channel allotments were not assigned. See "Digital television" paragraph below.}

Contents 1 History 1.1 KTVH 1.2 KBGF-LP 1.3 KBBJ 1.4 KBAO 1.4.1 Translators 2 Digital television 3 External links

[edit] History

[edit] KTVH

KTVH was the first television station in Helena, Montana, signing on the air on January 1, 1958 as an NBC affiliate. The station originally had the call letters KXLJ and was part of the "XL" Radio Network, along with stations KXLF Butte, KXXL Bozeman and KXLY Spokane, Washington. Shortly afterward, Bob Magnus and two partners bought the station and changed the call letters to KBLL-TV. In 1969, former Montana Governor Tim M. Babcock bought the station and changed the station's call letters to KTCM (Television for the Capitol of Montana). Babcock sold the station to Lynn Koch in 1979, and the station changed call letters again, this time to KTVG. A few years later, Koch sold the station to Don Bradley, who again changed the call letters to KTVH (TeleVision for Helena), which remain to this day. By 1988, the station was in financial trouble and Bradley sold it to Big Sky Communications. Big Sky Communications restored the station's financial health and in 1997, sold KTVH to Beartooth Communications.

[edit] KBGF-LP

An original construction permit was granted on November 16, 2004 to Charles C. Townsend, III of Aloha Partners, to build a low-power television station serving Great Falls, Montana. The station being constructed on channel 50 was given call letters K50IQ. In April 2005, Townsend sold the permit to Beartooth Communications, who immediately changed the call letters to KBGF-LP. The station was licensed on December 5, 2005 and is a translator for Helena station KTVH. The station brands as KBGF 6/50, with the "6" referring to its position on the dominant cable television system in Great Falls.

[edit] KBBJ

On December 8, 1997, Sunbelt Communications Company obtained an original construction permit to build a full-service television station in Havre, Montana. KBBJ channel 9 became the first television station for Havre and north central Montana on December 5, 2001 when it was licensed as a satellite of Helena NBC affiliate KTVH. Sunbelt assigned the station's license to subsidiary Beartooth Communication Company in 2005.

[edit] KBAO

Beartooth Communications Company was granted an original construction permit on December 12, 1997 to build a full-service television station to serve Lewistown and surrounding areas in central Montana. On July 18, 2001, KBAO channel 13 was licensed as a satellite of Helena NBC affiliate KTVH, and as Lewistown's first television station. The station expanded its reach when the four translator television stations serving Phillips County in northern Montana became repeaters for KBAO.

[edit] Translators

The following stations rebroadcast the signal of KBAO:

• K15AS Malta MT
• K20BP Phillips County MT
• K34DN Whitewater MT
• K36CW Dodson MT

[edit] Digital television

KTVH-DT was granted Special Temporary Authority on April 13, 2004 to begin broadcasting a digital television signal on channel 14 at reduced power. The temporary authority has been extended several times, the last time in April 2006, and KTVH-DT has requested that the reduced power facilities become the final facilities on channel 14, as they intend to build out their full digital facilities on their analog allotment, channel 12.

Because KBBJ and KBAO were granted original construction permits after the FCC finalized the DTV allotment plan on April 21, 1997 [1], they did not receive companion channels for digital television stations. Instead, on or before February 18, 2009, which is the end of the digital TV conversion period for full-service stations, KBBJ and KBAO will be required to turn off their analog signals and turn on their digital signals (called a "flash cut").

[edit] External links

• KTVH/Beartooth NBC official site
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KTVH
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KBGF-LP
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KBBJ
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KBAO
• Query the FCC's TV station database for K15AS
• Query the FCC's TV station database for K20BP
• Query the FCC's TV station database for K34DN
• Query the FCC's TV station database for K36CW